


Ponete esta peluca de alondras, ¡Y volá! ¡Volá conmigo ya!

by Yuzusho



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Actual friendly neighbourhood cowboyangman, Crack, Ensemble - Freeform, He's not actually a cowboy or has spiderman powers but i just wanted to use that tag, I tried to write this w/o including squad and i failed, M/M, Only speaking characters tagged some other mentioned, fairytale AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-15 21:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10558128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuzusho/pseuds/Yuzusho
Summary: Prince Shoma does not have an interest in marrying so his family hires a seer who tells him where to find a suitable spouse, and he goes for it thinking at the very least he could freeze some members of Morozov's pesky tax collector army on the way to the castle and back after he fails to do so.A swan however, was not in his plans. Much less if the aforementioned swan could turn into a human.





	1. Curses are exhausting

**Author's Note:**

> Title: 'Wear this wig made of larks, and fly! fly with me now!'
> 
> I know NOTHING about the Uno family except they exist and i only know his brother's name. Skating moms are notoriously hard on their children tho so.
> 
> Shoutout to fiery for introducing the idea to me of actual swan!Yuzuru Hanyu. Their fic is rad yo.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoma is sent on an errand to find a spouse or a competent accountant, he finds a clumsy air mage instead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an unholy behemoth born out of seeing that Shoma's journey in my fav fairytale could fit the events he took part in this season, including WTT which happens just after this fic is finished probably. That and swanzuru, gotta love me some swanzuru.
> 
> This also spiraled out of control from the expected 3K and so now it's a WIP. Let's hope i can finish b4 WTT in less than a week sobs.

The queen sighed, as his son went outside for the nth time to practice his jumps. Sure, she had encouraged, even pressured him to learn magic when they had discovered his aptitude for it, but ever since he found out he could freeze anything all he did was skate and jump and dance all day and all night on his skates.

Heavens know Shoma would try skating on his tub were it wider than his own height.

While it meant he could probably freeze an entire opposing army at this point and therefore able to protect their kingdom from invaders and tax hounds, it also meant he no longer could sustain an interest in the other boring parts of what were needed to run a kingdom.

Namely, finding a suitable spouse (like her husband) who could run all the complex numbers and politics while he frolicked around and broke down boots on a weekly basis. She frowned when she noticed his brother joined him and the prince tried to teach him how to spin on his both feet. The door opened and her own father came into the room, noticing at once her weary expression. 

"Is he out again?"

"Where else could he be? The sun shines high in the sky and there are no armies or petty collectors to fell today."

The younger prince fell mid-spin but sprung on his feet instantly to try again. Alas, what she would have given for Itsuki to have inherited the throne, then maybe the curse of disinterested heirs might've been banished from the Uno family.

"Perhaps we are doing this the wrong way. He was incredibly bad at magic despite his aptitude wasn't he?"

Indeed he was. Even worse than his attempts to keep a balanced diet and eat something green every once in a while. But it had vanished once they had found a suitable inspiration for him. 

"It went away once we showed him the work of lord Takahashi indeed. Do you suggest we send him there again?"

"Yes, but not to him, but his wife."

That did make her raise her eyebrows in question.

"Lady Davis? She is another incredibly accomplished mage yes, but what could she do to inspire him to suddenly find a spouse?"

"She has kept her business partner loyal and spouse besotted for nearly two decades hasn't she? I'm sure she must know how to rope someone into marriage without much fuss, even for someone like Shoma." He looked back to the skating princes and seemed to reconsider.

"At the very least, she will know gossip of greedy witches who may have terrorized populations he could free. We could gain the favor of one or two decent accountants that way."

* * *

 While Meryl considered herself apt at manipulating situations and salvaging ill-witted comments she uttered once in a while, she did not know why did the Uno family assume she was an accomplished seductress. It had been her husband the one besotted with her in the first place. Striking an accordance with Tess to use the rivalry between them to make their respective partners work their part was also not her own alone doing.

...Perhaps she should tone down the performances for the upcoming festivals this winter. Just in case other families got the wrong ideas and followed for advice she could not give. Going back to the dull classics was always a nice breath of fresh air.

 Alas, now she had to solve the issue regarding the heir to the Uno throne, prince Shoma's lovelife. Or rather, the lack of it and his inability to muster enough interest beyond keeping afloat his kingdom.

Heavens know that only managing wasn't enough, whatnot with witches and knights routinely ransacking with their curses and good deeds that had to be rewarded. She may be a performer, but even she knew to keep a stash in the unlikely but possible event she had to bribe someone to revert her husband or partner from toad to human because they may have enticed a lonely mage too much with their performances.

...maybe she should start choreographing all of their performances, not just hers. 

In any case, she was glad that they had come with a request for either a solution for prince Shoma's lovelife or a wayward ruler that he could hunt down and free their population from. Last she heard Morozov was still ageless in his iron throne and Didier had just come back from the dungeons, so those two were still out of the question, maybe in a few years after he grew into his own power.

She did hear that in Tessa's turf there was an unlikely number of refugees coming in. Performers who couldn't thrive in their own land because their own people were not interested in their art enough to sustain them. Some unlikely few though, were running away from lands claimed by Morozov and nameless wizards alike. Maybe he could find someone who could direct him there to curse breaking. 

But first, he needed to correct that spell stance, or he would break one of his legs one of these days.

"Charlie, do you still keep in contact with our teacher?"

* * *

Shoma knew he lacked interest in many things. It seemed every time he tried to focus on anything that was not magic it was as if a fog was suddenly upon his mind and he felt all of a sudden drowsy and sleepy. He saw the focus he put into the one single thing he was good at and he knew exactly why his hardworking ancestor was cursed as well.

Fortunately their family curse affected only the current ruler and the heir however, and that is how the Uno bloodline managed to go from low beginnings to ruling their own land.

And yet, Shoma could feel his time running out, as his own mother was regaining little by little her own focus and drive as he neared his 20th birthday, when he would be officially crowned as her successor. In the same vein, he felt himself losing little by little what focus he had left, lethargy and apathy slowly taking over. All he was good now for was performing on the ice and using his water magic to create ice to skate on and freeze trespassers such as invaders or Morozov's bloodsucking tax collectors who thought they could take advantage of their people even as far away as they were.

In any case, he did not even have the energy to feel more than mild annoyance at being sent off on an errand to find either a spouse or a competent accountant. He really needed to take a nap, as the travel sapped his energy incredibly fast but he would probably get robbed or cursed if he slowed down right now in the middle of some shady woods. Probably both if he stopped at all.

Curse-based exhaustion got the best of him and he decided to stop and take a brief nap, using his lavender cape as pillow. It took 5 minutes until he was woken by some yelling, and found the source of it coming from an curiously dressed young man hanging from a tree, foot stuck between two branches.

A single turn of his wrist and the branch froze over, snapping immediately and the man cushioning his fall with a gust of air. Another mage then, most likely his own age, though he looked more of a circus performer with his oddly colored clothes, stripes of red and white along his shirt with a black velvet vest.

"Why were you hanging from the tree?"

"I was supposed to go to the next city but i still haven't gotten the hang of my magic and i ended up stuck when i wanted to bypass the trees." The young man laughed and Shoma thought he was oddly blasé about the whole situation. 

"Still, thank you for saving me friend. Nice cape by the way!" He was unusually friendly but he was too tired to care after his interrupted nap so he just nodded along and introduced himself.

They ended up traveling to the city together after the other retrieved his fallen things from the grass, both going to the same town as the other. Apparently his name was Boyang Jin, a wind mage from the Harbin region, currently ruled by Emperor Bin. It was months of travel so he idly wondered what he did all this way. He didn't even need to ask however as the other kept talking the whole way. He was there for a local contest as he wanted to try routines before performing them in winter for his own people.

Shoma did not find that first night the woman he was sent to look for, as apparently she was out of the city and conveniently returned until the contest ended. He entered by Boyang's suggestion seeing he had nothing else to do but wait and even sleeping the days away got boring after a while.

Shoma won, to the surprise of noone, but he was astonished at the jumps the other man could make. It was as if instead of jumping horizontally, he did so vertically and he was afraid more than once he would crash into the wooden barriers. He could definitely see why he was practicing this early on, as he definitely needed all the help he could get.

He had no need of perfecting his routines just yet, so he was content with the falls he suffered and accepted the prize money graciously.

At least this way he wouldn't have to water farms for lazy farmers in exchange of food in a long while.

* * *

Lady Marina just looked at her nails the whole time he explained his plight. Until Shoma mentioned lady Davis, then she looked at him properly and then sent him off in errands.

Getting food was not an issue, or even the money to buy such food but he felt a bit unsettled at being reduced to a simple messenger. This was not his turf however so he kept silent, letting Boyang fill it with his constant chatter. 

It felt nice in a way, his brother was rather quiet like him so he hadn't been exposed to pleasant constant conversation, only boring political parties that made his mood drop when he tried to focus on them. He wondered why wasn't this affected by his curse, as there was interesting information to be found in the type of candies Boyang liked to eat and mourned their lack of. 

"Oh look! Barbecue potatoes!"

Maybe he should test the limits of it further, but for now, there was food to be found and delivered.

When he returned, he was told to go further north, as the person who could aid him was currently out in Didier's turf, helping out a performer recently returning from a horrific injury. Up north in Toronto he could go and get a quick help from the crickets before taking a ship to Morozov's turf and from there go to Didier. Why would insects be able to help him he did not know but most old performers had cryptic advice.

Toronto was a peaceful city so he would not find any accountants in need of curse-breaking or witch-scaring but he could try and skate on the perpetualy frozen river route and try the donuts from the emporium. 

 


	2. Bitter donuts and icy waters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoma is sent to find a man who can help him with his jumps. He finds a veteran performer, an old friend and a mysterious man with a glowing pendant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gah...I wanted to write more but i couldn't get a way to post the actual SC comp or some details so you have some boring plot building interactions instead! Also I thought WTT was next week not this one so like. Down the drain the dreams of finishing this early. At least it'll give me something to do in off season, though at the rate the plot keeps developing and my writing speed i'll end in june rip.
> 
> PChiddy is such a delight to write as a veteran skater. So unfazed, that crazy young quadster he once was~  
> I miss Satton so much so including her in is such a delight because my plot was already muddled from squad so what the heck, a bit more tweaking won't hurt.
> 
> EDIT: I fixed some of the wording since i reread and some of the POV's weren't clear enough. I don't want to resort to put a sign saying who speaks where because the chapters are rather short, I apologize but my actual writing skills are rather poor and I don't have a beta.
> 
> In any case, wow thank you so much for your kudos, comments and bookmarks! I thought the fandom would be more dead but it seems it got alive recently! I appreciate your support!

The donuts were a lie.

Boyang looked to be angrier than Shoma himself felt. Apparently a wizard had cursed their owner Tim and they were all as bitter as the brew he regularly sold along with his sugary confections.

At least now he had a chance to use his magic, as Boyang immediately started marching towards the direction Tim told them to follow. A (frozen) swamp wizard was no big deal for any of them both, much less using their combined might. Hopefully it meant free food during their rest of their stay there.

The wizard was already defeated by the time they came there, a man who looked as if he still wore his sleeping clothes standing over him, having grabbed the staff that presumably belonged to the mage judging by the weird glowy stones embedded on it and was about to snap it over his knee. He thought it better and decided instead to smash it against the wooden table.

He turned to look at them and his eyes seemed to bug out almost comically. Then Shoma chastised himself as he realized that the man was not surprised and that was how his eyes looked normally, and that was very rude of him to even think of.

"Oh, did you come to defeat the wizard too?"

Both nodded and the man looked at them with a sage, understanding expression. 

"I'm sorry to have taken your chance out of your hands but he cursed my grapes to not freeze over, which normally one would think is what good wine needs but not mine." 

He paused and realized that Shoma and Boyang were still looking speechless at him. Despite being frequent witch punishers, the situation was too sudden for them to adapt even that easily. Especially with the unsettling staring he seemed to do that Shoma tried to ignore in fear of thinking rudely again.

"I apologize, i hadn't introduced myself. I am Patrick, owner of the biggest emporium of ice wine in the whole region." He preened at that, and started walking towards the outside.

"Come, you can introduce yourselves while warming up in my house."

* * *

"The crickets huh? Lady Marina sent you didn't she?"

Only Marina referred to them like that. Most everyone just pointed the cave and it's location. Admittedly it was more useful than just saying 'the cave' but he always forgot to use it.

Those two were familiar to him however, he was sure he'd seen them before, somewhat recently. He was sure he had seen someone devour candied grapes that hard and someone with that same perpetual sleepy expression. It took a while of inane talking and awkward tries of ice-breakers to remember enough to place their faces.

"Were you in that contest organized in Barcelona last winter?"

The two men looked at each other and it seemed as if a lightbulb had turned on, then nodded very enthusiastically.

"So that's why you seemed familiar! You were the one with the green doublet and that limbo bend!"

"To be honest i don't remember a lot from that contest. I can barely remember stepping on the ice at all." The seemingly younger one looked sheepish but still seemed to have lighted up at the revelation despite his exhaustion.

Curse-based perhaps? Well, it was not the first time one of his fellow competitors had to deal with one that affected their skating or normal lives really. He still remembered those roses Lambiel unwittingly left out everywhere.

"Well, you can stay here for the night. The cave is going to be closed all week because of the upcoming contest so you'll probably have luck finding someone from there that is not busy until it ends. I know someone from there who is going to Morozov's lands after this contest, you can probably join with him and hitch part of the ride to Paris."

God knows his fire would be useless against the winter storms, and these kids with their absurd control of magic and convenient elements might help the voyage go a bit smoother. That would be something to worry about in a couple of weeks though, first dinner.

"You guys aren't underage aren't you?"

* * *

The donuts were back to being sweet but still Shoma decided to instead for cookies. They had packets of sugary cream cookie sandwiches and he was completely hooked on them, while Boyang happily took off Shoma's share of the donuts. It was a bit quiet in the emporium but there was a constant stream of people in and out now that word had gotten out of the food curse being lifted. 

"It was awfully nice for him to invite us to dinner don't you think?"

"Maybe Patrick felt bad he knocked the guy out before we could get there. He also seemed disappointed I couldn't try his ice wine."

"You didn't miss out on much, it was very very sweet but kinda bitter too." Boyang paused and looked at the donuts again. "Actually, it tasted like cursed donuts now that i think about it, just with the alcohol part."

Shoma nodded, and watched the people come and go until he saw a familiar white coat come inside. He couldn't see their face because of the heavy hood but he recognized that style of clothing anywhere.

"Satton?"

The figure turned it's head towards both Shoma and Boyang and walked towards them after taking their coffee. Then, she lowered the hood and smiled at them.

"Ah Shoma i didn't know you were here! When did you arrive?"

Boyang made a space and she sat beside him, setting her coffee and pastries on the table while turning to look at both of them.

"I'm Satoko. I trained with Shoma when we were younger for some years, your name is Boyang right?" He smiled brightly immediately and nodded, but before he could answer anything, she turned to Shoma.

"What are you doing here? I thought you didn't come to this contest usually."

"I'm turning 20 next year." He offered rather nonchalantly and she just nodded in agreement. Satton had been aware of his curse since they were kids, so he wasn't surprised she could glean what he was doing just from his answer.

"There isn't anything here, so where are you taking a boat to?"

"Paris apparently. Someone there can either help me find an accountant or a spouse."

"I'd honestly try Moscow better. Someone who can survive under Morozov and his tax sucking regime is probably adept at manipulating numbers. Though you'd have to be really sure they also won't try to steal everything." 

Shoma grimaced at that, he didn't need to remember his family history to know that had actually happened a couple of times and he had no desire to do another thing like that.

For now however he didn't have to worry about that, and decided to go sightseeing. Maybe he could find a set of gloves that were chew-resistant in one of the markets.

* * *

It took longer than he'd thought but finally the week was over. Patrick had told them the cave would be open a couple of days after the contest ended so now Shoma was there waiting. Why the entrance of a cave would be lined with wood panels on the floor and walls he did not know, it was not as if they came inside to escape from the cold.

He was received in the same nonchalant and dismissive fashion as before until again he mentioned Lady Marina and then he was quickly ushered into a somewhat pleasing office. He was told to wait, until a well-dressed older man came in, not surprised at seeing him sitting there.

He was more curious than Lady Marina however, and raised an eyebrow when he had to explain his own curse and the band-aid solutions his family had for it.

Shoma knew finding a hardworking spouse or good accountants and advisors was not ideal since it opened doors to coups and backstabbing, but the family had given up trying to break it last century or so, since the original mage and his staff were lost forever so they couldn't reverse it. It had to be an outsider too, as someone from the kingdom doing it was considered as the new heir by the curse and it was useless to deal with.

In any case the man, Lord Brian, called someone else into the room. A foreigner like himself, though he couldn't place nationality with that beard.

His name was Javier, and he was going to travel to Morozov's lands to snatch another contest since almost nobody wanted to go to the ones hosted there and as a commoner almost everyone overlooked him, despite winning multiple contests internationally, including the world-wide hosted right after winter ended.

Shoma didn't want to think about it, nor his experience in the past year occasion, so he focused in what Lord Brian was telling him.

Boyang was allowed to come, and they would board a boat in some days along with Javi that would leave them near Hamburg and there they would separate ways. Shoma wasn't sure he was completely on board with Satton's suggestion so he'd rather get to Paris and get over with it, and nodded at the rest of the instructions.

"Remember to pack some good raincoats, this time of the year there are nasty storms that are difficult to warm up from." Javi's face was oddly cheerful so he had to wonder just how bad these storms would be.

It was time to talk to Boyang and pack again his bags it seemed. It was nearly winter, and he was sure he would end up cold, soaked and miserable the moment he ended and faceplanted into his cot. 

* * *

He was woken by the sudden thud of someone faceplanting into the cot beneath him, again. He craned his neck and saw a mess of dark hair obscuring the face of the passed out man, with half his legs dangling from the bed, boots and lavender cape still on. He looked familiar with that straw hair...alike the fashion lord Takahashi had set as trend some years ago when he still competed in contests. 

Every night he was woken up by someone coming to sleep on this room, always lying face down and with his hair and askew cape covering up any recognizable features. He did wonder why Javi hadn't told him about someone asking about the nest of feathers in the cot above. It was easy to see, even at a distance.

Perhaps he did not realize at all that he slept alone?

Yuzuru was tempted to lower himself to the floor and brush away the cape blocking his view. He could do so now, and cooped up inside his room got terribly lonely and boring sometimes. Having very little impulse control was not one of his main traits, and so after maybe an hour of fighting with himself, he landed carefully on the wooden floor.

One of his blankets was tugged around his shoulders for warmth, dislodging many feathers from his cot in the process, some falling to the floor and even a few falling on the sleeping man. He leaned to take a proper look at the man, trying to keep his distance so as to not accidentally fall atop him.

The very little skin he saw was more tanned than his, a red blush painting the small part of his cheeks he could see, so round he was tempted to poke and pull to see if they were as squishy as they looked. He was about to, but decided to not and backed away, a sense of guilt flooding him and Yuzu mentally pinched himself.

It was rather creepy to be honest, and himself hadn't made any attempt to either stay up late or wake up early to see who it was, so it was his to blame. Just as he was stepping away, his pendant glowed harshly and he covered it immediately so as to not disturb the other one in the room.

Yuzuru started to run the moment he was out of his room however, tripping a few times in his haste and trying to find Javi's room as they'd need every fighter possible.

There was no time to lose, if what he was warned about was that close to them. Oh how he hated surprise boardings this time of the year.

* * *

Shoma was half asleep, breathing with his mouth open when he almost inhaled something solid and promptly woke up so as to keep breathing.

It took him some sputtering to dislodge it from his mouth, looking at it bleary eyed. It was a snow white feather, quite large and almost completely intact save for where he almost bit and bent it with his mouth while trying to not choke on it.

He tilted his head, confused where could it have come from. Did he carry it all the way from the parks last week? There were many ducks in the pond, and one or two swans in the lake but he hadn't gotten close to any of them. His coat didn't have any pockets either, and they were far out enough that no seagull could've sneaked in somehow from the top to his still closed door.

He shrugged to himself and stood from his cot, stretching to ease the awful pins from the arm he slept on top of. For the first time in the whole trip, his eyes decided to linger on the cot above him and he was startled by the mess made of it, revealing the source of the feather in his mouth.

There were maybe a dozen strewn around hapzhardly arranged blankets, and now that he looked at the room properly, some were on the floor and even a couple on his bed. The cot above looked like a nest, but he hadn't seen any seagulls here. So why did it look recently abandoned?

He extended his arm and touched the blanket, running his fingers over the entire cot feeling it still warm. Probably it had been emptied a few minutes ago, and from the warmth, it was something as relatively small as a duck what had slept there.

Why hadn't he heard it otherwise?

He had no chance to investigate further when the ship shook suddenly and he heard wood splintering, almost thrown to the floor by the force of the hit.

There were yells and smoke immediately rose to his awareness. There was no time to lose, and he'd be damned if he was to be shipwrecked in icy cold waters so he began to ran towards the deck.

Javier was there, slinging fire as soon as someone got close to him that got put out rather quickly by the rain. Boyang was in a corner, pushing what seemed to be pirates back into their own ship with gusts of air. He didn't have much time to ponder the scene until he was dragged into fighting. Apparently since Didier was out and about, his goons went back to pilfering ships they thought had no guard.

Too bad they chose the one ship carrying this many mages towards their contests.

There was a sudden white light and he turned towards it. A black haired man, with a glowing pendant and a sparkling white cape was weaving water, freezing people to the wooden floor and putting out whatever fires he could. He didn't get to stare much longer as he had to dodge an incoming axe to his face and he pushed back against the invaders, keeping him out of his mind until the sun rose and the invading ship was far, far behind them smoking and with the mast broken.

Finally, he looked at the torn deck. Boyang had a nasty bruise on his cheek and he saw a couple of people bleeding from superficial slices. He could still feel his hand burning from one of the enemy mages surprising him up close but it wasn't that bad things realized. Didier was losing his touch apparently.

There was a thud and Shoma spotted on the corner a slumped figure. The other water mage he realized, and he stepped closer to try and help. The pendant was glowing faintly still but went out and the moment he got close enough to touch, a similar white light enveloped him.

Around him, there was a circle of white feathers, and in his place, there was a swan.


	3. Disgruntled swans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shoma is sent to find something to mitigate his curse, he finds a disgruntled swan and a rather uncomfortable sea trip instead.

Shoma had no idea what to do besides stare at the floor and count the patterns that repeated on each ceilingboard. He did find many shapes in the grains, even thinking that one in the far left almost looked like a dragon if he squinted enough. He could think of better ways to use his own time, such as sleeping on his own bed, currently occupied by a sleeping swan.

Why would they ask him to watch over this man however he had no idea.

Why would they even turn him into this animal? A a swan was very unusual to turn somebody into as swans had a notoriously bad temper and were very strong. And mages still could use their magic when turned into animals so usually one wanted to turn them into something easily trapped like a frog, a dove or a rat.

He didn't know how much time passed since thinking that patch looked like a mishappen flower, and falling asleep on the chair after a couple of hours, waking up to the bed missing it's inhabitant.

He blinked slowly, not processing the absence at first and then panicked, running and almost tripping once he was in the hallway, stopping at the foot of the stairs when he saw a mass of white feathers. 

He found the swan-er man climbing down stairs by hopping rather quickly, holding a wing rather awkwardly and Shoma extended his arms to catch him in time as he saw he was about to trip. For rather graceful looking creatures, it was very heavy, a mass of muscle and heavy feathers and Shoma almost toppled over.

It was very confusing and he still had trouble wrapping his head that this swan was a man. A mage, and a water one like himself to say the least. 

Being pecked repeatedly on the cheek didn't help and he yelped, holding the swan at arms length as he backtracked back to his (their?) room. Once he stepped in, the swan hopped from his arms and flapped rather awkwardly as it landed. Then it proceeded to peck Shoma on his boots hard enough he could actually feel it.

"I can't let you go out yet, i'm sorry i was told to check up on you while you were still sleeping!"

If a swan was capable of huffing, he was sure he would be hearing one in that moment. Instead, he got a rather threatening hiss and he was tempted to bolt out of the room. He stood his ground in front of the door however, he had seen how the mage had collapsed and it really wouldn't do good for him to collapse again somewhere on the boat or even at sea if he fell by accident.

Even if he was a swan and could swim better than all of them combined. That still was so strange.

There was a knock on the door and it broke the staredown both man and swan were having. The door opened and a familiar head poked in, cheerful expression in Javier's face.

"I heard some noise so i thought i would check on you-oh Yuzu you're awake!"

* * *

 "So, he will turn back to normal eventually?"

"Usually within a day yes, though sometimes it took even a week, we don't really know how it works, just that he poofs back into being human."

The swan-Yuzuru was currently staring at Shoma while Javi talked. It felt eerie and creepy in a way and he couldn't shake off that he was about to be attacked in any moment by him. Swans were not a particular favorite animal of his, many close calls when practicing on lakes nearby his home and too many cygnets almost caught in his magic by accident.

Javier looked pointedly at Yuzuru and the swan stopped staring at Shoma to look at the other man instead. He didn't understand what was happening as none of them talked or made any sound, but eventually Javier nodded with a smug expression on his face and Yuzuru hopped onto the bed instead, resuming his staring but now directing it to both men.

"...so what do i do now?" 

"Yuzu should stay put now, he usually gets antsy when he has to wait out his transformation." He paused and a grimace came to his face. "That time for a week was not very good right at the end of it. You are free to go now i guess, it's not like there is going to be an attack-"

A loud honk interrupted him and it startled them both, Yuzuru looking somewhat angry again and hissing lowly.

"Right, no jinxing it. Their boat is probably sunk but there do exist more than one." He paused and then looked at Yuzuru curiously.

"Actually, if you are well enough to hiss at me mister swan, then you're good enough to go over with me with some stuff in the cabin."

If swans could look devastated, Yuzuru's face would be the perfect photographic example, Shoma thought, feeling rather excluded from the one-sided conversation.

* * *

Shoma didn't see Yuzuru for the rest of the day, but there was always this nagging sense he was being watched and bracing for bony wing spurs in his face. He really didn't have a fond memory of swans, but still he felt slightly guilty that he was this jumpy at a stranger's presence.

Even if the stranger was also a swan sometimes. And if the stranger was not really a stranger. Anyways.

"Stop poking it, you're just going to make it hurt more." Shoma had been watching Boyang prod his bruise while looking in a small hand mirror for about 15 minutes and he swore the bruise was just getting bigger and bigger by the hour. He sulked but lowered his hand grudgingly, admiring instead with only the mirror.

"My pride hurts more." Boyang's face turned into a full sulk and Shoma had to contain a small smile. "Everyone else had an injury made by a cool weapon or magic but i got smacked by a pirate grabbing a scabbard instead of their own sword. My beautiful face is going to look awful for a week at least."

Yeah, even Shoma could admit that being smacked by a panicking pirate with a scabbard was not the most ego-lifting thing he could think of. At least his own burn had faded already so he chose not to comment it happened because the mage had startled him and he dug his palm into the mage's face in his own panic. Nobody had to know, and thankfully Boyang chose to end the topic in his next breath.

"Anyways, did you see the other water mage? I though Javier and uh that other air mage i don't remember were the only ones with us here. His technique was so cool, it looked very different to yours too. Like it was swishing and just pulling."

It was true, Yuzuru was almost as seamlessly fluid as water itself, moving on time with it and slowly gaining terrain but never giving an inch of it. Shoma knew his own was much more unrefined, dragging the water instead of matching his own tempo to it while risking being surprised by not keeping his space, as it had happened with that fire mage.

That kind of control took complete years dedicated only to the quality of movement instead so he had wondered where the other mage had learned it too when he had seen him fight since where Yuzuru and Shoma hailed from there was a notable lack of teachers. He knew from the moment he heard his name from Javier's mouth however. 

Shoma _knew_ him, he _knew_ Yuzuru.

That is, he had talked to him, had skated on the same ice, but for the life of him, he could not remember more than vague images of glittering soft blue clothes, of a purple-accented white sleeve that he knew was softer than it looked despite the sequins, and the biggest smile he had ever seen, detached from an actual face. He could remember bits and pieces from him, but when he tried to conjure an actual picture, the disjointed pieces refused to come together.

Was it because of Shoma's own curse, or was it because of Yuzuru's?

Just what was going on in here?

* * *

Seeing Yuzuru turn back to a human was rather anti-climatic considering how he had fainted the first time he saw him turn into a swan.

He and Javier were arguing again for some reason, though he couldn't make out what Javier was saying he could clearly hear the hisses that he was making and the, dare he say, indignated honking and the threatening display of wings.

(Shoma considered Javier a brave man for standing up to a clearly pissed up swan and having the gall to probably tease it further)

Suddenly there was a bright light again and in the blink of an eye Yuzuru was human again, which promptly broke up the argument and the overjoyed man raised his fist in the air and yelled. His cape was gone, replaced by an ensemble of a pristine long-sleeved top with an open v-front and back that gave way to black pants and surprisingly elegant boots, feathers and sequins stuck to it and highlighting the whole outfit. His old white cape was half hanging by his shoulder so Shoma wondered if he indeed had been wearing that the day they were attacked.

Yuzuru quickly ran away once he realized where was he though, and the whole event was so quick probably only a fourth of the people on the deck had even noticed what had happened. 

* * *

He was going to kill Javier. Very, very slowly and painfully and he knew Miki would agree with him wholeheartedly. Not until they both got to Marseille however, and that looked to be at the same time in a few weeks.

Because he had purposely cancelled the transport deal to take Yuzuru directly to Marseille even before they boarded the boat. Once he realized who was traveling with them and where was he headed. 

Not one, not a single person had told him who was boarding with them besides ‘a few mages he had seen before’. He had seen Boyang on one of his few night strolls, but he doubted that the other had seen him.

Javi had neglected to tell him who was traveling with Boyang however and he hadn't been able to take a peek at his face all week at sea.

All that time Yuzuru wondered why was he so curious about the person sleeping under him, and Javi still had said nothing. He still felt so angry he could feel his magic burn under his skin, even mentioning his name would have helped him remember.

The moment he saw his face, passed out on the chair in the room, he had panicked and tried to chase for Javi. He didn't go very far, because he was still dizzy from remembering years of interaction at once.

And then Shoma caught him, and all he could do was flail and try to get away by reflex. And then that traitor came in and explained most of the things to Shoma. Except the most important one and he was not sure if to be angry or relieved the other did not remember him.

Even now small details made him lose himself for a moment in a memory, like the green leaves likened to the color of the doublet he wore last year. Or a strand of stray hair pushed by the breeze made him remember how he looked after a performance, wind blown hair and pink cheeks.

He really, really wanted to kill Javi now. And maybe become proficient enough to raise lord Seimei from the dead and kill him again as well. Or at the very least yell their ears off.

…who was he kidding, it was all his fault. There was nothing more to do but to sigh and walk where Shoma, Boyang and Adam were waiting.

Paris was a long way to go, and Marseille even further. Might as well try to break the ice with his husband again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heheee, yes they are still married <3\. Shame poor Shoma does not remember.
> 
> Sorry if this is going somewhat haltingly. I'm not a very good writer (And i don't have a beta or time to do extensive editing myself) so i just really crank this out as it goes with minimum editing rip. Ch.2 was revised for wording recently so do take a read at that again if it was a bit too difficult to follow ;;;
> 
> I'm pretty confident i ironed everything out regarding lore so this should go faster. I think.

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe the Yuzusho username wasn't taken.


End file.
